Cooking with cannabis growing in popularity as users seek more than just a sugar high – Chicago Sun

PORTLAND, Ore.—The first time Holly Hukill tried to make cannabis-infused desserts it was, in her own words, “a complete disaster.”

“I burned the butter,” said Hukill, the product development director at Serra, a Portland-based weed dispensary. “And the cookies were just awful.”

Making your own edibles, Hukill explained, requires a lot of trial and error. Early on in her cannabis-cooking career, there were times she had to call into staff meetings because she was too stoned to drive.

“Sampling so many iterations of the same recipe, that is definitely a hazard of the job” she said with a laugh.

Now that she’s an expert, Hukill and Serra want to help others enjoy the benefits of recreational marijuana use. Over the weekend, Hukill helped teach “Sugar High,” a cannabis cooking class at Feast, a four-day food annual festival in Portland known for attracting James Beard Award winners. The class for 45 people quickly sold out.